A Resort With Less Glitz and No Kitsch

A development in Florida's Vero Beach emphasizes minimalist design to create an understated vibe

Started by Hilary and Galen Weston, owners of upscale retailers Brown Thomas, Holt Renfrew and Selfridges, the private resort community of Windsor in Vero Beach is the anti-PalmBeach. Alyssa Abkowitz has details on Lunch Break. Photo: Durston Saylor.

By

Alyssa Abkowitz

Feb. 14, 2013 10:48 p.m. ET

When crystal tycoon Nadja Swarovski, Amway heir Dick DeVos and Canadian retail billionaire W. Galen Weston come to the east coast of Florida to relax, they bypass Palm Beach and head 80 miles north to a development called Windsor. Here, home architecture is strictly regulated—few arches allowed—residents get around on golf carts and Prince Charles is an occasional visitor.

Who Lives Here

Located on a barrier island at the north end of Vero Beach, Fla., Windsor has become a low-key version of glitzy Palm Beach. Here is the view of the town hall designed by Léon Krier in Windsor. Jessica Klewicki Glynn

Located on a barrier island at the north end of Vero Beach, Fla., Windsor has become a low-key version of glitzy Palm Beach. In Windsor, residents in T-shirts gather at the village coffee shop instead of donning tuxes at nightly galas. Among its residents, the enclave has attracted the likes of retired tennis pro Ivan Lendl and investment banker Peter Peterson.

ENLARGE

Nadja Swarovski of the crystal empire has been coming to Windsor with her family since the early 1990s.
WireImage/Getty Images

"The people who come here have nothing to prove to anyone," says Ms. Swarovski, the great-great-granddaughter of Daniel Swarovski, who founded the Austria-based crystal empire in 1895.

ENLARGE

Retired tennis pro Ivan Lendl has a home here.

Started in 1989 by Mr. Weston and his wife, Hilary, Windsor spans 416 acres with 350 lots. About 70% of the lots, which range from $400,000 to $2.6 million, have been sold, and current resale listings range from $1.2 million to $12 million, with most deals coming through word-of-mouth, says Elizabeth Hanley, president of Windsor Real Estate. The Westons own 30% of the remaining lots that haven't been developed yet; they also own the resale brokerage operation.

Annual dues are $11,750 for Windsor (not including golf dues), and the yearly association maintenance fee is $5,794. During the downturn, average sale prices in 2008 and 2009 dropped 17% compared with 2004-06, according to local data. Ms. Hanley says prices have crept back up to prebust levels.

ENLARGE

The Weston, pictured, started the development in 1989, and it spans 416 acres.
Getty Images

To create the community's understated atmosphere, Ms. Weston and her husband worked with Andrés Duany, a Miami-based architect and urban planner who's known for "new urbanism" designs that are set around a town center and emphasize walkability. His well-known projects include the towns of Seaside, Fla., and Habersham, S.C. After seeing Seaside, the Westons decided to work with Mr. Duany because his approach notably lacks the kitsch of other Florida resorts.

The homes' Anglo-Caribbean facades are typically white, cream or a soft yellow, and the ends of roof joists must be visible to showcase the style of architecture. Homeowners cannot use large arches in their designs (Mr. Duany says they're "vulgar") and they must choose one of nine builders approved by Luis Van Cotthem, the director of planning and the man developers call the keeper of the code. There are minimal setbacks—the distance between where the lot ends and the road begins—and the streets are about 10 feet wide. "If you want to do something different, do it inside," Mr. Duany says. He recalls the daughter of an important developer who refused to design a home without multiple arches. "We ended up returning her check to her," he says.

The result is a development where homes are extremely close together but still very private. That's achieved by using courtyard architecture, where the main home and a separate carriage house or guesthouse are designed around a courtyard that acts as an outdoor living room with a loggia, a pool or a garden. Without setbacks, homes that are 5,000 square feet can easily fit on half an acre. Windows facing the courtyard don't have to have curtains, and windows facing outside are strategically placed so they don't align with a neighbor's windows. Homes sit on the perimeter of the golf course so the terrain can mask the homes across the way. The design allows a homeowner to build multiple homes on a single property—one at the north end and one at the south end, for example—to allow for older children to sleep away from their parents or give guests their own space. "We wanted family compounds with lots of smaller houses," Ms. Weston says.

Ms. Swarovski's family has been coming to Windsor since the early 1990s. Her parents sold their first home and built a larger home that could accommodate the entire family—her parents, herself, husband, three kids and her sister's family of four. In their home, which has soft pink shutters and crystal curtains in a large living room, there are three separate master-bedroom suites, two of which have children's rooms and offices attached. The design allows for 10 or more relatives to be in the same home but not feel cramped.

Most days at Windsor begin with residents going for coffee at the village store in golf carts, the preferred mode of transportation. Members play golf on the Robert Trent Jones Jr. course or stop by the equestrian center to ride horses. Near Windsor's entrance, there's a polo field where charity events have brought Prince Charles, actor Tommy Lee Jones and Italian hotelier Salvatore Ferragamo to town. A tunnel under the highway leads to the oceanfront properties and a beach club where members can sit in the sun by the pool and eat hamburgers or relax in private cabanas.

At night, members typically go to wine tastings at one another's homes or have dinner at the restaurant inside the clubhouse. On the top floor of the club is an art gallery, which Mr. and Ms. Weston's daughter started in 2002. It has featured works by Alex Katz, Christo and other contemporary artists, along with art from the Weston's private collection, such as works of Jeanne-Claude (Christo's late wife) and Gert & Uwe Tobias. Currently it has a partnership with Whitechapel Gallery in London to curate an annual exhibit that coincides with Art Basel in Miami.

On a recent afternoon, Mr. DeVos and his wife, Betsy, arrived at Windsor for an escape from the Michigan winter. The couple bought their first lot at Windsor in 1997 and decided to buy a second lot as their family grew. They now own a traditional main home and a contemporary-designed second home across the street, where they're adding on a playroom for grandchildren. The couple spends eight weeks a year at Windsor—each year adding a little more time. "I never wanted to have a house in Florida," Ms. DeVos says, laughing. "But Windsor is so different from the rest of Florida."

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